Cameron and Labour back The Times #cyclesafe campaign

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Maria Eagle and Jim Fitzpatrick at the spot where Mary Bowers was struckBen Gurr/Times

Roland Watson

Last updated at 12:01AM, February 9 2012

The Cities fit for cycling campaign won cross-party support yesterday, with
the Prime Minister throwing his weight behind it and Labour endorsing calls
to spend Highways Agency funds to build cycling infrastructure.

In the week since The Times began the drive to improve cycle safety,
22,900 written pledges of support have been received and 1,100 of the 50,000
people who have visited the campaign page have written to their MPs.

David Cameron, who used to cycle from his home in north Kensington to
Westminster before moving to Downing Street, said: “As a keen cyclist, I
congratulate The Times for drawing attention to this issue. We want
to encourage cycling as a cheaper, greener, more healthy way of getting from
place to place, and making people feel safe cycling on the roads is crucial
to that.”

The Shadow Transport team visited the junction in East London where the Times
reporter Mary Bowers was hit by a lorry on November 4 as she cycled to work.
She remains in hospital and is still not conscious.

As part of an eight-point manifesto to improve cycle safety, this newspaper
proposed ring-fencing 2 per cent of the Highways Agency’s annual £5 billion
budget to build world-class cycling infrastructure.

Maria Eagle, the Shadow Transport Secretary, said that Labour might adopt the
policy, along with other proposals contained in the manifesto, once a policy
review was completed in the autumn. “Even though there have been big cuts to
the Highways Agency budget, there is no reason why some of that money ought
not to be focused on building safe access and routes.”

Mike Penning, the Road Safety Minister, said he was wary of calls to switch
money from a national roads budget to cycling, which is usually done on
local authority roads. “We are already giving £1.8 billion to local councils
over four years for transport improvements, including measures for cyclists,
as well as providing £560 million to support local authorities specifically
to use sustainable transport to create growth and cut carbon,” he said.

A £10
daily road user charge for lorries was announced last month. Ms Eagle
said that the £20 million in annual receipts expected from the scheme should
be used to improve the safety of the HGV fleet. It costs about £600 to fit a
lorry with sensors and mirrors to detect cyclists, pedestrians and other
road users who may be hidden in blind spots around the vehicle.

Jim Fitzpatrick, the Shadow Transport Minister, identified improved training
of drivers and cyclists as a priority. “With the extra number of people
cycling, which has just exploded in the past ten years, there is a greater
need for awareness training, education and for safer driving,” he said.

Cycling has become an important campaign issue in the mayoral elections due in
May. Jenny Jones, the Green Party candidate, said: “I only have one small
quibble with the eight-point campaign: we should be spending at least £100
million in London, let alone the rest of the country. I look forward to
working with The Times and anyone else hoping to make the roads safe
for everyone.”

The speed with which politicians on all sides have signed up to the campaign
suggests that there is real political capital to be gained. Mayoral
elections in London, Liverpool and Salford in May have put local issues,
including transport, firmly on the agenda. Referendums the same month in
Birmingham, Bristol, Bradford, Coventry, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle,
Nottingham, Sheffield and Wakefield, which will ask people if they want
mayors, will provide further impetus.

While the roles of these officials is yet to be settled, some will be sure to
try to win powers over transport, the key sphere of influence held by Boris
Johnson, the Mayor of London.

It may be no coincidence that ten of the biggest cities in Britain signed up
to the Cities fit for cycling campaign on the day of its launch, with
Liverpool, Birmingham, Leicester, Bristol, Newcastle, Manchester, Glasgow,
Leeds, Sheffield and Belfast city councils all endorsing our covenant to
make cities fit for cycling.

Road safety figures show that the number of cyclists killed or seriously
injured in Britain (measured against distance travelled) rose in both 2010
and 2009. In London, casualty rates rose in 2008, 2009 and 2010.